Disc drives are digital data storage devices which store and retrieve large amounts of user data in a fast and efficient manner. The data are magnetically recorded on the surfaces of one or more data storage discs (media) affixed to a spindle motor for rotation at a constant high speed.
An array of vertically aligned data transducing heads are controllably positioned by an actuator to read data from and write data to tracks defined on the recording surfaces. An actuator motor rotates the actuator to move the heads across the disc surfaces. The heads are configured to be hydrodynamically supported adjacent the disc surfaces by fluidic pressures established by the high speed rotation of the discs.
Device designers have proposed hermetically sealed designs that utilize a lower density atmosphere, such as an inert gas (helium, etc.). While providing higher levels of operational performance, it has sometimes been found difficult to adequately seal such a housing to prevent the escape of a substantial amount of the inert gas atmosphere over the operational life of the device.
With the continued demand for higher performance data storage devices, there remains a continual need for improved housing configurations. It is to these and other improvements that the claimed invention is generally directed.